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It's Draft Week ... Finally

The uncertainty of the 2014 draft is only rivaled in magnitude by the walkup, which mercilessly comes to an end in three days. Whose name will Roger Goodell call first at Radio City? It's the Texans' secret, and they're not telling

My meandering T-minus-three-days draftapalooza column (attaway to sell the column, King!) includes an eye-opener from Mike Mayock, predictions from the cognoscenti, separating fiction from fiction [cq] on Johnny Manziel, a rundown of places I think I think I know something about, a way to make a four-day draft sound almost tolerable, and the hottest name in the draft.

My mock draft runs Tuesday on The MMQB. Until then, here’s what I know now:

Ten things, from 1 to 32.

From the top of the first round to the bottom, here’s what I’m hearing:

No. 1, Houston. The buzz about a trade-down or Khalil Mack to Houston instead of Jadeveon Clowney won’t die. The Texans are doing a good job of sending mixed signals to the GM community, that’s for sure. Mack’s in the dark, which is to be expected. I can’t see Atlanta mortgaging the farm on any player, so if the Texans want to trade down, the return likely won’t be a ransom.

Nos. 2 and 13, St. Louis. I sense the Rams like Greg Robinson at two—over Sammy Watkins and Jake Matthews. A St. Louis contingent went to Auburn on Thursday to work out Robinson; no negatives surfaced. More mystery about 13. The Rams really like Johnny Manziel, and if he were there at 13 (which is unlikely), they would consider picking him. His workout for the Rams on Friday in Texas, with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer running the show, was impressive, as was the 80-minute post-workout session in the meeting room with Schottenheimer and coach Jeff Fisher, among others. One other piece of knowledge I got confirmed Sunday: Rams GM Les Snead recently went to Texas Tech and met at length with coach Kliff Kingsbury—Manziel’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at A&M in 2012—and came away thinking Manziel could adjust to life well as an NFL passer. Does that mean the Rams will take Manziel if he’s there at 13? I am still dubious. But I can tell you the Rams like him a lot.

No. 3, Jacksonville. A peer of GM David Caldwell said Sunday he knows a big Jag priority will be to play it safe with this pick. Sammy Watkins or Jake Matthews … quite safe.

No. 8, Minnesota. The Vikings are more inclined than ever to get their quarterback out of a bottlenecked group of passers at No. 40 in the second round. Vikes want a front-seven disruptor—defensive tackle Aaron Donald comes to mind—more than anything else up here.

No. 11, Tennessee. Hadn’t heard quarterback and the Titans in round one until Sunday. Now I hear: corner one, quarterback two.

Odell Beckham’s return skills combined with his ability at wide receiver make him a first-round lock. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)

No. 20, Arizona. We’ve been hearing a lot about quarterback here, and with the unpredictability of the QB market this year, it’s entirely possible the Cards could take a Derek Carr. On the other hand, Arizona’s not far away from competing in the NFC West, and is the best use of their draft currency to take a quarterback they’ll likely redshirt this year behind Carson Palmer?

No. 22, Philadelphia. Keep hearing they want in on the prime receiver action, and the receiver they want could be LSU’s Odell Beckham, who can play outside, inside in the slot and as a returner. But the Eagles would have to trade up, and GM Howie Roseman is doing his due diligence, talking to at least two teams in the mid-round neighborhood, when Beckham would likely go. But the cost could be too rich for the Eagles’ blood. They may have to settle for Marqise Lee, who would be some consolation prize.

No. 24, Cincinnati. Bengals like Teddy Bridgewater. They couldn’t. Could they? Well, if you’re Cincinnati, and you’re seriously thinking about making Andy Dalton the center of the franchise and paying him $17 million a year, you might be asking the question about whether Dalton’s worth it.

No. 26, Cleveland. Time to get a quarterback, right? Not so fast. GM Ray Farmer has asked at least one team low in the round about trading back into the first round from Cleveland’s second-round slot. That leads me to think Cleveland wants to get ahead of Houston, another obvious quarterback hotspot, and get a passer with a third first-round pick. That leads me to …

No. 32, Seattle. Think about the advantages of picking, saying, 35th instead of 32nd if you’re the Seahawks. Every dime is going to count going forward because of pricey vets like Russell Wilson and Richard Sherman who must be re-signed. Last year, the difference between the 32nd pick (safety Matt Elam) and 35th pick (tight end Zach Ertz) was $350,000 per year. Not a huge sum, but when you add a $1.4 million total difference between 32 and 35 to the fact that the Seahawks might be able to get a low-fourth-round pick for moving down three slots—and you remember how good Seattle’s been in the later rounds of drafts—you start to think John Schneider has to be thinking about this too. That’s if Cleveland would do a deal low in round one. But it’s intriguing. All Seattle would lose is the ability to add a fifth-year option by keeping its first-round pick. I think the advantages of saving $1.4 million and adding a mid-round prospect outweigh the edge of the fifth-year option.

* * *

Four men look into the crystal ball.

I asked Mike Mayock, Todd McShay, Mel Kiper and Gil Brandt, “When round one is over Thursday night, tell me a story line or two that will surprise people.”

Mayock: “I’m going to give you this one: [Nebraska cornerback] Stanley John-Baptiste slips into the first round. He’s what today’s NFL is all about. He’s too long [6-3 and 213] and moves too well for this not to happen.”

“I think Johnny Manziel will go in the top five, but not number one,” Gil Brandt says. “And I think Khalil Mack gets picked ahead of Jadeveon Clowney.”

Kiper: “If I predict something that would shock me now, then it probably won’t be too shocking when it happens. But there could be as many as eight wide receivers in the first round—and no running backs. Although if this was 1988, [Ohio State running back] Carlos Hyde would have a top-15 grade. The real shock would be no quarterbacks going before 16, but I really don’t think that’ll happen.’’

Mayock surprised me the other day by saying he thought Martin will come off the board “between nine and 13 … He’s too good. He’s too safe. He’s about as safe a player as there is in this draft.” Mayock told me Sunday he saw a Notre Dame practice last summer in which Martin had to be shifted from his usual spot, left tackle, to guard because of an injury, and when he watched the tape of the practice, “It looked like he’d been playing guard for years.’’ I know one team in the top 10 seriously considering him.

The NFL draft used to be two days—on a Saturday and Sunday—before moving to the current three-day format, including two nights in prime time, in 2010. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

An idea for a four-day draft.

I’ll make a trade with you, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell: You put the draft back in April, and I’ll support a four-day draft. I actually don’t think a four-day draft is a terrible idea. I don’t love it, but digest how the draft breaks down now, using the 2014 draft as an example:

It’s misleading to say Day 3 is four rounds. It’s actually five, if you include the nearly full round of compensatories. Those 156 picks come in a cascade, with little time for interpretation. Moving it to a fourth day, logically, would make Day 3 cover rounds four and five, with the final day wrapping up rounds six and seven—but with something added at the end. How about this revamped schedule for April 23-26, 2015:

If 7.5 million people watch some portion of the NFL scouting combine, then some appreciable fraction of that will watch to see who has a shot to be the next Arian Foster or Kurt Warner. ESPN would drop off at the end of the seventh round, most likely, and the NFL could get ratings juice by putting two hours of Daniel Jeremiah and (if he still has a voice left) Mike Mayock on NFL Network, breaking down the first two hours of the annual post-draft land rush that sees teams sprinting to sign preferred undrafted players.

But the league has to come to its senses and help teams out here by realizing that holding the draft 19 weeks after the regular season—and just 11 weeks before the start of training camp—hurts teams’ chances to get rookies ready to play on day one of the regular season. This is not just a media or public issue (though the public is so sick of draft prep now, from what I get on Twitter from fans, that they could scream); it’s an issue of football preparedness. You don’t think two more weeks of being inside the playbook isn’t going to help Johnny Manziel be ready to start opening day, if that’s what his team prefers? It’s unfair to hamstring the 32 coaching staffs by not giving them their rookies in any sort of camp setting until the middle of May—for no good reason.

* * *

If you watch one highlight this week, watch this.

The audio isn’t great on Peyton Manning singing “Folsom Prison Blues” at his Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital charity gala last week (the second stanza gets better), but the visual is tremendous—Manning in a business suit, complete with pocket square. Check it out here.

The best thing is to hear Manning, if you strain, singing one of Johnny Cash’s most memorable passages ever, with country singer Jake Owen by his side.

“When I was just a baby my mama told me, ‘Son,always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns.’But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die …When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry.’’

Offseason karaoke. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Manning is due to appear on the “Late Show With David Letterman” tonight in New York. If there is a God, Letterman will ask Manning for a rerun. With better audio.

* * *

Happy trails, Gary Smith.

In a pleasant way, the long-time long-form Sports Illustrated writer Gary Smith has always gone against the grain. No interest in social media, no interest in covering the biggest events … but an abiding interest in telling the best stories in sports. Not the most famous stories, or the stories involving the biggest names. But stories to be loved by the biggest fans and people who don’t care about sports at all. That’s his gift—to make everyone read stories about sports people voraciously. Smith, one of the best writers in any genre, said last week he was retiring from the magazine business. He’s going to write a book of fiction and see how he likes it.

I caught up with Smith as he drove from his home in South Carolina to a meditation retreat in Maryland. A few thoughts from a man I don’t know well but admire greatly, starting with meditation, drifting to his favorite stories, and what life holds for him:

“Meditation’s very interesting. I really enjoy it. I’ll get away for eight or nine days. During the day, you get totally silent. You meditate for seven or eight hours a day. Then you talk in the evening. I think I learn more in those eight or nine days than I would learn doing anything else for the same period of time.

SI Honors Gary Smith

Friends, co-workers and others pick their favorite stories from the SI writer's legendary career. The Best of Gary Smith

“It’s so hard to pick stories, but I think I would have to start with ‘Damned Yankee.’ [The 1997 story is about John Malangone, a catcher of great promise for the Yankees whose career was ruined by the hidden secret that 5-year-old John accidentally killed his uncle with a javelin.] The stories that spilled out of John, the unbelievable psychic residue of carrying a loaded secret for most of his life, the suffering he went through. The potency of the material was overwhelming. We still talk today. Then I’d have to say the [1988] story about Muhammad Ali and his entourage. That’s a story about a rocketship that stops on a dime, and how everyone close to Ali, in all walks of life, had to remake their lives. I loved that because it tells the story of what happens when the money train stops. Where does everyone go? What do they do? Then the [2006] Andre Agassi story, about how hard he worked over the years to find himself. I never worked with someone who wanted to figure himself out alongside of me. At the beginning, he thought I was going to story on one facet of his life. Just one. I said, ‘No. I want the whole thing.’ ”

That led to this tremendous Smith passage, setting up the story:

“One Andre, two Andres, three Andres, four. Five Andres, six Andres, seven Andres, more. Has any athlete ever changed as much as Andre Agassi? Sure, you’d watched Tiger Woods change his swing, Michael Jordan change his sport. But who changes himself? Metamorphosis is the rarest achievement in sports. Why would a man bother to change when he’s got the American dream by the throat? Maybe it’s just too damn risky; what if it puts out the fire that forged his steel?”

I told him I loved his Pat Summitt story, because of the angle he told it from. He could have tailed Summitt for a few days and heard everything, but no, he found one of her Tennessee basketball recruits, Michelle Marciniak, who could tell the story even better—because of the overpowering effect Summitt had on her life, and on so many lives.

Smith: “Sometimes you have to move the camera to a different side of the room. After a few days, I began to focus on Michelle. Michelle in the cauldron. Imagine being a teenager and being thrown into this intense world. That turned out to be a much better way to tell the story.”

Smith’s advice to young writers: “I think you have to be on two tracks. One: Write a lot. Keep a journal. Practice your writing all the time. Two: Interviewing … I think it is so much about your own development as a person. Can you get virtual strangers to deliver intimate material? If you are going to write great stories, you have to be able to do that. So you have to read a lot. Read about different human beings. Read about different things. Travel a lot. Walk into any world, any place, any sociological environment, and get comfortable. That’s important.

“My decision … I got the sense I’d be more lit up creating something else, something new. I’m trying a novel. Who knows? I haven’t second-guessed my decision at all. I am incredibly grateful for all the wonderful things people have written about me. Some of the things … Joe Posnanski wrote something so beautiful … [The NBCSports.com columnist and former SI scribe wrote that Smith was “a wizard. His magic did not look easy. It did not even look possible.”] Do you have his email? Can you get it and text it to me? I have to thank him.”

So now Smith disappears into himself at the meditation retreat.

“After a few days of getting my ego over-inflated, it’ll be good to go somewhere and get a giant needle for that.”

Quotes of the Week

I

“I’m sad to see some of these guys retiring. I’m not far behind.”

—Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, on the field at Yankee Stadium on Sunday. He was in New York to see friend Derek Jeter play for the last time, and he’ll stay today to tape the Letterman show. Jeter and Letterman have both announced plans to retire.

II

“It’s not something we’re counting on. It’s something that would be a relative surprise.”

—Jacksonville general manager Dave Caldwell, on the status of suspended wide receiver Justin Blackmon, the fifth pick in the first round just two years ago. He was suspended twice last year, the second time indefinitely, for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, and the team hasn’t been in contact with him—per league guidelines—while he’s been in rehab.

Hard to think Sammy Watkins won’t be in the final couple of options for Jacksonville when the number three spot in the first round comes up Thursday night.

III

“We look at the draft as, in some respects, a luck-driven process. The more picks you have, the more chances you have to get a good player. When we look at teams that draft well, it’s not necessarily that they’re drafting better than anybody else. It seems to be that they have more picks. There’s definitely a correlation between the amount of picks and drafting good players.”

—Baltimore assistant GM Eric DeCosta, to Jenny Vrentas of The MMQB, in Vrentas’ enlightening story last week about the Ravens’ love of compensatory picks, and how they intentionally try to obtain more compensatory picks than other teams through a sort of planned obsolescence of their own veterans.

I strongly recommend you give Vrentas’ story a read if you have not already.

IV

“He’s got the balls of a burglar.”

—Rich Gannon, former NFL quarterback and 2002 NFL MVP, to me, on Johnny Manziel, in my virtual roundtable with five quarterback experts dissecting Manziel this week.

V

“For far too long the NFL has been sitting on its hands doing nothing while an entire population of Americans has been denigrated. How long will the NFL continue to do nothing—zero—as one of its teams bears a name that inflicts so much pain on Native Americans?”

—U.S. Sen Harry Reid (D-Nev.), on the floor of the senate last week, on the “Redskins” name.

VI

“Frankly, I would probably change the name.”

—U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), asked on “The Dan Patrick Show” by Patrick what he would do about the Washington team name.

So two of the biggest political leaders in America, who can’t agree that today is Monday, went on record in the past week as saying they would change the name of the Washington Redskins. The story’s not going away. Eventually the league and Washington owner Dan Snyder are going to have to come to the realization that “Redskins” is too objectionable to too many people.

I understand all the status-quo fans of the team, and Snyder, who think this is PC America run amok. And whatever the reason Snyder is spending time and money on Native American causes through his Original Americans Foundation, I applaud him for trying to help a depressed segment of our society we often overlook. But Snyder risks being on the very wrong side of history if he chooses to make the name of the team an Armageddon cause.

Stat of the Week

Asked a veteran personnel man this week how many players his team had with “make-it’’ grades on his draft board, and he said 170, which is up about 25 players from a usual draft. Different teams I’m sure will have different ways of looking at this board; I’m just saying this draft probably has more players who would make an average NFL roster than most recent drafts.

The 170th pick is the 30th pick in the fifth round this year. San Francisco owns it. Here are the teams that, theoretically, could have the biggest injection of new life on their rosters this fall, the teams with the most picks among the top 170:

8: Cleveland*, Jacksonville, San Francisco.7: New York Jets.6: Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis, Baltimore, Houston, Detroit, Minnesota, Green Bay.* Cleveland’s top eight picks all come in the first 145 slots.

On the other end of the spectrum, the teams with the fewest picks in the top 170:

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Mr. Starwood Preferred Member Travel Note of the Week

NBC buddies Brian Williams and Peter King enjoyed The Boss in New Orleans. (Photo courtesy of Peter King)

After years of being told, “You’ve got to go to Jazzfest,” I finally went to the New Orleans spring staple, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, on Saturday … to see Bruce Springsteen at the old lady of a racetrack there, The Fairgrounds. I’ll be returning. It was a gorgeous day and a great Americana scene. Thousands of people—maybe 50,000 or so—walking from venue to venue, listening to gospel music in the Gospel Tent or blues in the Blues Tent, eating an array of local food (I chose the catfish tacos), enjoying the sun and the music. Springsteen was his usual indefatigable self. How does a 64-year-old man keep up that pace—not just for 2 hours and 35 minutes, but the pace of touring and keeping it so fun night after night? Coolest part of the show: He brought up John Fogerty—and Fogerty’s two sons to play maracas—and they combined on “Green River” and “Proud Mary.”

At the same time Springsteen played, you could have (and thousands did) seen elsewhere on the property Trey Songz, Foster the People, Better Than Ezra, Al Jarreau, Johnny Winter, The Head and the Heart (a Seattle-based Steve Gleason favorite) … or Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers.

Three bits of lagniappe from the day in New Orleans:

1. Saw Rob Ryan, the Saints’ rock star of a defensive coordinator, and NBC’s Brian Williams, a huge Springsteen fan, at the show. You see what Williams, the Yankee fan, is doing in this photo? He’s covering up the Red Sox logo on my shirt.

2. Out for a drink after the show, I got to meet Nils Lofgren and Mrs. Nils. Very nice people. They live in Phoenix. Big Arizona Cardinals fans.

3. I visited Steve Gleason, who spent some time in the hospital this week with pneumonia. He’s feeling better, but his ALS is advancing inexorably. It’s such a cruel disease; muscles controlling his ability to swallow now don’t work. Cutest thing I saw all weekend: Gleason’s son Rivers sitting on his lap in his wheelchair, watching a Jimmy Kimmel skit on YouTube.

Tweets of the Week

I

As noted by @GregABedard, Ray Farmer picks #4 & #26 after replacing Mike Lombardi, exactly the same position for Ozzie Newsome back in ’96.

After starting 13 games as a rookie, and going 4-9, Mike Glennon reportedly has been put on the trade block by the Buccaneers. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think I’m in favor of the draft rotating sites. As Cowboys VP Stephen Jones said the other day, he’s in favor of the idea of putting it at the team’s stadium in Arlington. I like it too. Why not take it out to the fans around the country?

2. I think it sounds very much like Bruce Arians isn’t a fan of the Cards potentially being on “Hard Knocks.” I mean, what coach is?

3. I think I don’t understand the Bucs apparently being open to dumping quarterback Mike Glennon. This is a player with potential, and a sponge, who doesn’t have to have anything handed to him, and could be a part of the long-term solution at quarterback for the Bucs. To get, say, a fifth-round pick for Glennon is just not commensurate with what he delivered last season in a promising rookie year.

4. I think the GM under the most pressure this week is Rick Spielman in Minnesota. He cannot pick the wrong quarterback if he wants any job security.

5. I think one of the big questions anyone should have about Pitt quarterback Tom Savage was raised the other day by Gil Brandt. “It’ll be interesting to see how much of a factor it’ll be that Savage basically went 1,000 days without playing a game,’’ he said. “Did you know that?” Can’t say that I did. But I looked it up. And yes, it was 1,022 days between the last game Savage played at Rutgers in 2010 and the first game he played at Pitt in 2013.

6. I think it should come as no surprise to any Vikings-watcher that Christian Ponder didn’t have his fifth-year option picked up—though I believe the whole fifth-year-option exercises have been overrated. Take Aldon Smith. If you’re a Niners fan, you probably were surprised the team picked up his 2015 fifth-year option after all his troubles. But it’s not really surprising. The fifth-year option is simply a place-holder, with minimal risk, as our Andrew Brandt explained last week. The only risk is that if a player gets hurt badly in 2014 and his status for the fifth year is in question, his 2015 salary would be guaranteed. But if Smith, say, has one more run-in with the law and San Francisco chooses to let him go after 2014, they’re under no obligation to pay him big money in 2015. So I think the fifth-year options are much ado about very little.

7. I think Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is on to something. He reported Sunday that of the 32 first-round picks in 2011—all, of course, eligible now to talk new contracts with their teams—none, apparently, is close to a long-term extension. Not J.J. Watt, not Cam Newton. There’s probably a logical reason—that teams don’t have to do anything now before the draft, and talks will heat up after the middle of May. But if they don’t, you can be sure players will press the collusion button.

8. I think when Greg Cosell of NFL Films talks, I listen. Not many in the prospect-analyst business are as smart and concise and opinionated about players as Cosell.

9. I think, when it comes to the debate about who’s going to start at quarterback for the Jets, it’s all meaningless palaver until Geno Smith and Michael Vick show up at camp and compete in practice and preseason games. Of course Smith is the incumbent and Vick would have to beat him out in August. We’ve known that since the day Vick signed. Nothing has changed, and no amount of words or pronouncements will make it change before, say, late August.

TALK BACK

Have a question or comment for Peter? Email him at talkback@themmqb.comand it might be included in Tuesday’s mailbag.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. Has V. Stiviano’s 15 minutes expired yet?

b. Could it? Quickly?

c. My favorite line from this sap’s interview with Barbara Walters: Asked about her relationship with Donald Sterling, Stiviano said, “I’m his right-hand arm man. I’m his best friend, his confidant, his silly rabbit.”

d. I wish I had a right-hand arm man. Any volunteers?

e. The NBA is not my forte, but night after night it is great drama. The other night, when the Damian Lillard three-pointer at the buzzer went in to win the Portland-Houston series, I screamed at the TV. Imagine what Portlandians did. Fantastic theater.

f. Mike Tirico’s call was terrific too. “Foul to give for Houston. Nine-tenths left. A three wins the series. [Whistle from the referee, starting play.] It’s Lillard … He got the shot off! LILLARD GOOD! GOOD! AND THE BLAZERS … WIN THE SERIES … FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 14 YEARS!!!’’ Then nothing but the crowd in Portland, which was nutso. That’s the way to make a great call.

g. Great stat from NBA.com’s John Schuhmann after the Nets eked out the game seven win at Toronto 104-103 Sunday afternoon: The Nets and Raptors played 11 times this season, and each scored 1,070 points in the 11 meetings.

h. Coffeenerdness: I could use a darker roast, Community Coffee, but you always make New Orleans a passable coffee stop on the road.

i. Beernerdness: In Atlanta Friday, I was fortunate to be introduced to SweetWater Brewing’s SweetWater Blue ale, with a hint of blueberry. Not a fan of the overwhelming kind of blueberry beers I’ve tasted, and this one definitely isn’t. It’s almost a light ale, and I found it delicious. No surprise there. SweetWater is a great brewery.

Nice shirt. (Photo courtesy of Vince Ranalli)

j. Congrats, Vince Ranalli (my nephew in Pittsburgh) for completing the Pittsburgh Marathon in five hours Sunday … and in a The MMQB shirt, no less. Heck of a job.

k. The week’s definition of pathetic: Yankee fans incessantly booing Robinson Cano on his return to New York. They’d have all turned down three more guaranteed years for $65 million more than the Yankees offered. Right.

l. And don’t blame me for Red Sox fans booing Jacoby Ellsbury. That’s awful too—and, for the record, I was at his first game back at Fenway Park and stood and cheered. To each his own, but the rancor in both cases is stupid and misplaced.

m. Leave Xander Bogaerts alone, by the way. He’s 21, a huge talent, and he’s learning. Let him have his growing pains. Don’t devour the kid.

n. And finally, just when you thought you couldn’t feel any older, Billy Joel turns 65 Friday.

I do not like the draft being pushed back 2 week, and I don't think I'd be a fan of 4 days of drafting. I was thinking that, as a fan, I wouldn't mind the draft being spread out a bit more. What if they had Round 1 of the draft the 3rd week of April, Round 2/3 the 4th week, and the rest the first week of May? I know I'm pretty up to speed on all the first/second round quality players.. but with a week of media coverage in between each draft day, the story would shift to start analyzing the later round players. I would greatly enjoy the story shifting to other players for a time and all the speculation that would go along with that.

"The [Redskins] story’s not going away" That's because it's a media-created, media-driven story. I'll keep saying this until it's old: my wife is Cherokee and she doesn't care about the name of the Washington NFL team. Her mother--God rest her soul--became a fan of the team PRECISELY because of the name of the team. Finally, when Red Mesa (AZ) High School--which is located in the heart of the Navajo Reservation--changes the name of its teams from the--you guessed it--Redskins, then we can talk about the Washington NFL team changing its nickname. Until then, it's not an issue!

Thank you for the piece on Gary Smith. I recall with great fondness the Thursday arrival of my Sports Illustrated, circa 1964, when a twelve year-old sports nut could settle in and read several beautifully written long form stories. Each issue was solid gold to me, and I kept them neatly stacked on a shelf, where I could peruse them again and again.

I met Frank Deford at his brother in law's house in Kennebunkport (interrupting him as he was banging away on a huge upright typewriter, but he couldn't have been more gracious) in the summer of '68, and for this sixteen year-old, it was better than meeting the president.

There was an article in Alabama about Fisher's connection with Robinson, his son has played on the same team with him at Auburn for the past few years. I couldn't be happier for the guy. His family had to flee their home during Katrina and he grew up very poor. There was an article about how his mother couldn't afford tickets to any of his games. I hope he does well and wish him the best.

How could Houston not draft a player who gives them instant national attention and coverage, and brings with him a talent which many believe will make him an extraordinary success? Manziel offers Houston more to gain than any other team. With him will come hordes of jones sickened cowboy fans, and the ability to move the needle for Houston to overtake Dallas as the premier franchise in Texas. You gotta take that shot !

You said "I understand all the status-quo fans of the team, and Snyder, who think this is PC America run amok" … no you don't, because you continue to attack Synder. It IS PC run amok and you liberals need to give it a rest. It's interesting that the name has been okay for most of Washington's 82 years of existence, but once the white liberals decided that the name was offensive, it had to go. Who are you going after next … schools and pro teams who have animals as mascots? Might offend PETA, you never know. I hope Snyder sticks to his guns and keeps the name, just to upset you left-wingers.

The biggest surprise of this year's draft will be the dearth of trades. There is simply too much talent, and everyone will be wanting to trade down (so as to accumulate more picks), and there will be few takers.

Just like that idiot that writes for the Washington Post Sport Dept, you looked under a rock and found 2 scum balls to "Change The Name", McCain has screwed over Indian Tribes for years in Arizona and that traitor Reid is in a private land grab with his son and the Chinese. Indian Drunks,Bad Comedians and crooked politicians you all have quoted in the last week or so saying the name should change, not to mention what Botox Bob will whine out next, stick to your fantasy of pretending you could be a GM in the National Football League or at least the next time you want to quote some nim-wit that you think is prevalent to spread your own personal narrative, take the time and see who and what they really are.

"Redskins" is a name that mostly elite white liberals like King find offensive. These people constantly need new causes to run to, and this is just the latest. Save the Whales and Acid Rain are no longer chic.

also what's ridiclous is guess what you know the nfl said they had to move the draft back to may because of the show at radio city music hall, well guess what the show was cancelled, and the nfl has known for a while, so they could've easily had the draft 2 weeks ago

I am really sick of this whole Redskins thing - it's a non-event that some liberals are still insisting on trying to make a national issues. It never has been, isn't now, and never will be. Having our "top" Congress folks (which they're not) waste time on this is embarrassing to this country. There's not ANY polls outside this minority group's (the group trying to make this an issue) small minds that say it needs to be changed.

@RandallAllen Oh come on. The media couldn't drive a story if no one was paying attention. And, as the stories have made clear not all minorities agree with your wife. The fact she thinks the way she does, is no reason to stop covering the story.

Hi Dave, Your inference that Red Sox fans are bandwagoners couldn't be further from the truth. All of New England suffered with each losing year, loving our Sox through the 86 year drought.

Many fans, including my father, lived a full life and died without seeing the Red Sox win a World Series, and when they finally did it in 2004, my tears flowed for him and for all lifelong Sox fans who couldn't be there.

Because there aren't any republicans who find the name offensive? Are you sure about that? Why do you have to blame liberals for everything? Redskins IS offensive to many people. Just because you don't think it is doesn't mean everyone feels that way. Why are your beliefs so much more important than people who do find it offensive? We are talking about tens of thousands of people, it's not like there are only a dozen people who are upset. Too bad the South couldn't just secede so all the republican bigots could live in harmony together while they ruin everything around them.

Learn the origin and original use of the word and then explain how and why it should be or is offensive to anyone!!! The Native Americans were the first to use the the term to describe themselves in negotiations with white settlers so get over yourself drama queen!

Oklahoma means Land of the Red People in the Choctaw Nation and it is a term that was created by a full blooded Choctaw, Rev. Allen Wright, who is considered to be one of the most honest and integritous individuals to ever walk the planet.

@YuSuk Even PK's best efforts at polling folks and researching anti-Redskin name groups rarely passes 30%. That's a small amount of people - even with the name-dropping PK integrates into his writing it doesn't sway more people. In fact, mentioning those two in particular is foolhardy because both are on their way out of significance = McCain is already there.